Lifted Rx300 With Big Tires

[Flumperboy]

I converted due to air bags bag fail 

used bc coilovers as I didn’t need any other parts to convert . I removed old airbags ,pump and res and all ride height sensors ,

i can get tyres for 20” with a nice chunky side wall but want to keep the 18” with a bigger tyre got 255/55/18 with 140mm wall but thinking 265/65 /18 only 10mm wider but 172mm wall that 32mm higher ride . Will have to try one see if it fits 

[Flumperboy]

[Brickwall]

Nice! Thought maybe I should share some more recent pics of my RX, the bumper and skid plates are still a work in progress.

[hewitttech]

Ok i am going to preface this with if do not have an RX or have anything useful to contribute please respectfully keep your comments to yourself. We already know our RX vehicles were not intended to be hardcore rigs.

Ok, So i managed to hydro lock my rx this weekend.  Luckily an easy recovery and didn't damage the engine. Pulled the plugs, shook out my k&n and Lexter fired right back up. I did lose an exhaust gasket and had 3 inches of water in the floor but hey, i will take it as collateral damage or at least the cost of the adventure and story.

So this is getting to the point of obsurd but i am looking for thoughts on something like a snorkel or at least a better way to protect the intake from aspirating water.   I really don't want to cut a hole in the side or have anything permanent and rediculous looking as an RX with a snorkel. I don't need it to run underwater or anything like that just a way of getting a little better protection than the low intake behind the headlight.  The water i was going through was 2 maybe 2 and a half feet deep, not even over my tires. It is a well established rock and gravel road that occasionally floods with fresh clean swamp water. We were not going fast at all but plowed up enough water in the front of the hood it made it to the air box installe and drowned.

If anyone has put any thought into a solution for the RX i would like to hear what you came up with.

 

 

Edited November 26, 2018 by hewitttech
bad video removed

[Eagle84]

Nice choice of tires. 

[hewitttech]

On 11/12/2018 at 5:10 PM, Brickwall said:

Nice! Thought maybe I should share some more recent pics of my RX, the bumper and skid plates are still a work in progress.

It's looking awesome! I could use a lightweight bumper and skid plate for sure. Radiator keeps taking a beating when running through the tall grass/weeds. Is that a bumper for another application you are trying to adapt or was it custom for the RX?

I now see there are full sets of strut spacer lifts on Ebay from Russia if anyone is looking for a really easy lift. Tallest I see is 40mm~1.5" which is what I have with my spring spacer lift. I would rather use something like that with stiffer springs but the spring lift does double duty. If only a set of custom coil overs with a camber plate didn't cost more than my RX. I have to drive about 2 hrs to the management area we play in and the way the camber is set for the trail can wear you out driving it on the road.

 

[Brickwall]

2 hours ago, hewitttech said:

It's looking awesome! I could use a lightweight bumper and skid plate for sure. Radiator keeps taking a beating when running through the tall grass/weeds. Is that a bumper for another application you are trying to adapt or was it custom for the RX?

I now see there are full sets of strut spacer lifts on Ebay from Russia if anyone is looking for a really easy lift. Tallest I see is 40mm~1.5" which is what I have with my spring spacer lift. I would rather use something like that with stiffer springs but the spring lift does double duty. If only a set of custom coil overs with a camber plate didn't cost more than my RX. I have to drive about 2 hrs to the management area we play in and the way the camber is set for the trail can wear you out driving it on the road.

 

Lol, I guess its custom. I made it from scratch myself...

[hewitttech]

That is awesome, good work. I for sure need a bumper, I don't have the factory metal bumper or foam behind the plastic anymore. It got smashed and I had to repair the passenger side bumper mount after skidding through a turn into a tree. I was thinking one that would just bolt to the factory mounts through holes cut in the plastic. Nothing fancy just something I could attach a nice skid plate to. I have already gone through a couple sets of the plastic fender and engine guard pieces.

I found these today:

http://dgrcoilovers.com/product/lexus-rx300-4wd-0003-dgr-high-performance-coilovers/

Not sure if they are available and I have some questions for the guys but man they are expensive. Thinking the "Track Version" should be beefy enough if I can get some input from them on the spring rates and if there is any +height adjustment and if they come with the camber plates or not. I found a site "BodyKits" that has all kinds of stuff for the RX but apparently making them look more like a race SUV is much more popular than off roading with them, that is where I found the DGR from Australia made in HK. Found some other funky Gecko ones on ebay for cheaper.

[Enduro]

On 11/26/2018 at 12:11 PM, hewitttech said:

That is awesome, good work. I for sure need a bumper, I don't have the factory metal bumper or foam behind the plastic anymore. It got smashed and I had to repair the passenger side bumper mount after skidding through a turn into a tree. I was thinking one that would just bolt to the factory mounts through holes cut in the plastic. Nothing fancy just something I could attach a nice skid plate to. I have already gone through a couple sets of the plastic fender and engine guard pieces.

I found these today:

http://dgrcoilovers.com/product/lexus-rx300-4wd-0003-dgr-high-performance-coilovers/

Not sure if they are available and I have some questions for the guys but man they are expensive. Thinking the "Track Version" should be beefy enough if I can get some input from them on the spring rates and if there is any +height adjustment and if they come with the camber plates or not. I found a site "BodyKits" that has all kinds of stuff for the RX but apparently making them look more like a race SUV is much more popular than off roading with them, that is where I found the DGR from Australia made in HK. Found some other funky Gecko ones on ebay for cheaper.

Have you found any snorkels? Or skid plates for your RX? I’m building one and finding a hell of a time finding anything for them or anybody but this forum with them let me know

[hewitttech]

No.  I don't think you will ever find anything bolt on for what we are doing. There was some stuff available when these were new but still nothing as strong as needed. I haven't had much time to play with my RX lately. She did finally get a new battery after my last hydrolock adventure though but that had been going bad for at least a year or two. I should have gone for the sealed battery but just couldn't justify the price of an Optima type.

I have another trip coming up and still need to fix a busted shock and a bad rattle under the dash. I guess i finally knocked something loose and am really impressed how much abuse it has taken before something came loose.

  My latest thought for a skid plate is to go get one from a Tacoma or something like that and just fabricate the mounts. It might not be the prettiest that way but function over form.  I don't think the lower of my AC condenser can take anymore physical damage. It is a miracle it doesn't have a hole the way it looks. It has been beaten so badly from running through all the brush and tall grass. I always thought brush guards were for looks.  Now i really need one.

Maybe Brickwall could fab us up a couple?

[Brickwall]

Lol, I could. Unfortunately with a stock bumper a skid plate would only be able to go up to the lower rad support so it wouldn't be very effective for condenser and rad protection... but maybe with some thinking I could get something to work. And as for a snorkel, the way everything is under the hood you couldn't get one routed, at least very easily. But if anyone is interested in a good heavy duty spring option, I put these in my RX https://www.ebay.com/itm/LEXUS-RX-330-350-MCU38R-MY05-4X4-F-R-30mm-RAISED-COIL-SPRINGS/160720012716?hash=item256ba8c5ac:g:gL4AAOSwOgdYnVnc

[hewitttech]

Yeah,  I haven't replaced the factory steel tube bumper yet thinking I would have to grab what i wanted anyway. Nothing as serious as your bumper more of maybe something like on a light baja. Just heavy enough for real protection if i catch a ditch.

Those springs are a nice find! I am probably going to order a set and have them swapped when i replace my busted front shock. Second one i have busted but they are way cheaper than coil over. The rx project is currently in a now in maintenance only slot.

I will post if i get those taken care of.  birthday trip with it in a couple months.

 

[cmullens72]

Thx for the info and idea all. I took it one step further and had the son-n-law help me weld a winch and guard on my 2000 RX300. 

 

[Brickwall]

Nice! What did you weld it to? The subframe?

[hewitttech]

1 hour ago, Brickwall said:

Nice! What did you weld it to? The subframe?

Welcome to the club. I like it!  Yeah, please share a little more.  I would like to see what you attached it to as well. Maybe a couple pics of the front on level ground so we can get an idea of your clearances. I would love a winch.  I was thinking of incorporating a reciever hitch into whatever i come up with in the front for protection so i could use one of those small reciever winches front or rear.  I need to find more garage and play time somewhere.

[mnewxcv]

I'm not a frequent poster here but I do get email notifications of this thread so I'm checking back. I painted my wheels a few weeks ago. Tires are Cooper AT3 4S 235/65/17

 

[cmullens72]

3 hours ago, Brickwall said:

Nice! What did you weld it to? The subframe?

I tried to post a reply already. Not sure if it worked but I don’t see it. 

Yeah we welded .25” flat steel to the subframe then used 1” x 2” rectangular tube steel to make a crossbar. From that we just anchored the winch plate and then made a place for the bumper guard hardware to bolt on to. It’s only a 5,000lb light duty winch that I’ll probably never use but might be enough to get unstuck from the snow or something. 

[Flumperboy]

Some good work going on here 

like to see the mods going well . 

I have added side steps . Helps the kids get in with the 100mm lift . 😂 

 

[hewitttech]

I contacted these guys https://www.ebay.com/itm/LEXUS-RX-330-350-MCU38R-MY05-4X4-F-R-30mm-RAISED-COIL-SPRINGS/160720012716?hash=item256ba8c5ac:g:gL4AAOSwOgdYnVnc that Brickwall linked to to see if they could make a 40-50mm lift for my 00' 300.

I am not sure what the difference is between the two and don't have the time to really check and see of the 330-350 springs would work for me. I will keep you posted.

[cmullens72]

5 hours ago, Flumperboy said:

Some good work going on here 

like to see the mods going well . 

I have added side steps . Helps the kids get in with the 100mm lift . 😂 

 

Cool. I was pondering whether to add side rails and rear bumper guard or to stop where I’m at. I kind of like the looks of the dune buggy rock crawler side bars. 

[cmullens72]

I used the 30mm strut spacers that mount on top of the strut. It’s a pain to install but I feel more secure with this type. 

 

[hewitttech]

Those running boards look pretty nice on there. I almost had a set of them but the guy didn't want to dig them out of storage for me. I could really use more of a rocker guard/sliders setup anyways.The exhaust comes below the body and body channel a good bit and I have smashed it a few times and it catches if you hit anything like a ditch. This last time out I curbed it right in the middle of the muffler and in the same trip when I hydro locked the engine the Y pipe came loose. 3rd time is a charm, I finally safety wired the nuts and bolts.

Those strut mount spacers would be by far the easiest lift you could do! I couldn't find mount spacers anywhere when I was doing mine and doing it with the spring perch spacers helped stiffen the stock springs just a little bit. If I can get those heavy duty springs and still have a problem with my tires hitting the fenders when I hit something really really hard I might look for spacers again.  For just a little more money than those I could probably have my machinist make some out of billet.

 

[hewitttech]

still trying to get in touch with that Aus. suspension company. No reply on ebay so I messaged and called them today. Too bad they are on the other side of the Earth. I really don't feel like having to call them in the middle of the night or have them call me back and wake me up.. oh well. the price of progress. Gotta get Lexter ready for the next outing in a month or so.

 

[Enduro]

Has anyone come across lockers for these vehicles? Also brick wall would you be willing to make another custom bumper same as your that you would sell?

[Enduro]

On 11/12/2018 at 2:10 PM, Brickwall said:

Nice! Thought maybe I should share some more recent pics of my RX, the bumper and skid plates are still a work in progress.

What kind of shield do you have on the front grille?